Ashly Brown climbs Snowden for Oakhaven Hospice in Lymington

PROUD mum has praised her ten-year-old son’s determination to succeed after watching him scale one of the UK’s highest peaks.

Hampshire businesswoman Emma O’Sullivan accompanied Ashly Brown as he trekked to the top of Mount Snowdon, netting more than £600 for charity.

Ashly, of Totton, raised his arms in triumph after reaching the summit of the 3,560ft mountain.

There were times when Emma struggled to cope with the exhausting climb but Ashly’s rallying cry of “Come on mum!”

helped her complete the challenge.

She said: “I’m so very proud of Ashly and what he’s managed to achieve through his own initiative.

He wanted to do something to help others in need and put everything into making sure he finished what he’d set out to do.

“It took us seven hours to reach the summit and go back down again and at certain points I was struggling to keep going.

“But Ashly reminded me why we were doing it and very maturely pointed out that some people aren’t well enough to climb a mountain.

He kept me motivated with his sheer determination to succeed.”

Snowdon is the highest mountain in Wales and the tallest point in the British Isles outside the Scottish Highlands. The pair reached the summit using the nine-mile Llanberis path, which provides walkers with stunning views of the surrounding area.

Emma, 31, said: “Ashly approached me last year with the idea of doing something for charity.

“He wanted to try a fivemile run but I came up with the idea of climbing a mountain and we decided to tackle the tallest one in England and Wales.”

Ashly raised £164 for cancer research and £469 for Oakhaven Hospice, Lymington, through online donations, sponsorship and collection boxes distributed to local businesses.

He and his mother went to Oakhaven to present the hospice with its share of the cash. Oakhaven costs £3m a year to run but the Government provides only 13 per cent of the cash, leaving the hospice to find the other £2.6m.

Jill West, Oakhaven’s community fundraiser told him: “Patients are very grateful for the service we provide but without people like you we wouldn’t be able to.”